PS Audio has announced an update which provides Bridge II-equipped DirectStream, DSJ, and PerfectWave DACs with full unfold of MQA up to 192 kHz/24 bit, and provides access to the streaming service Tidal.

Mytek Digital, the second MQA® license after Meridian to ship an Audiophile DAC with MQA technology, will be introducing their MQA-capable Manhattan II DAC. The new Manhattan II DAC is a reference USB/Network DAC/Preamplifier with MQA decoder, 384k PCM and DSD256, phono and line analogue preamplifier and a reference quality headphone amplifier. More »

NAD Electronics and Bluesound, announced that they will become a Roon Ready Partner. The integration as a Roon Ready Partner will provide subscribers of Roon’s intuitive, information-rich music library management software the ability to connect to BluOS-enabled devices from NAD and Bluesound. The integration is expected to be live before the end of 2016. By analysing a music collection, Roon allows users to explore the connections between the artists, composers, performers, producers, who created the music they love most, providing valuable insights and helps them to discover new music. In combination with NAD and Bluesound’s hardware, music lovers will be able to stream high resolution music throughout the home, to one or many speakers simultaneously or individually.More »

Trinnov Audio is announcing their support for Roon music software, with availability expected in the first quarter of 2017. All existing Amethyst and Altitude32 preamplifier/processors can become Roon-Ready with a simple, and free, software update that includes a 60-day complimentary Roon license.More »

Bryston has announced new firmware version S2.28 for their digital music players that delivers Roon Ready capability. When using Roon, there are three components involved: The Roon Core, which must exist within a computer (PC or MAC) or a compatible drive on the home network so that it can have local access to your digital music collection, a remote or user interface (iOS or Android device as well as any computer) also on the network, and an end point—which in this case would be any Bryston digital music player. Adapting the Bryston BDP music players so that they are now Roon Ready devices enables users to benefit from the sound quality of Bryston’s BDP-1, BDP-1USB and BDP-2 players with a bright, colourful and intuitive user interface that provides new features and accessibility to the listening experience. Roon transfers the audio files to the Bryston BDP player using a bit perfect system, enabling Bryston’s clock, linear power supply and custom integrated audio device (IAD) to convert the content to a digital bitstream that is ready for an outboard DAC. Another advantage of the Roon interface is their unique approach to TIDAL lossless streaming integration for subscribers. Now BDP users can have their TIDAL favourites aggregated with their local music library so that searches and playlists can include content from both sources.

With a simple firmware update, all BDP-1, BDP-1USB and BDP-2 devices become Roon Ready. BDP owners can use the Update Firmware function in Settings to update to the new version S2.28 firmware. Bryston is offering a free 60-day Roon trial coupon for a limited time within the services menu of the BDP after firmware has been updated.

The Roon ecosystem includes rich control apps for iOS and Android, and allows streaming to many different types of audio hardware. The one thing that the Roon team keep hearing is that users wish they had more options for where to run their Roon Core. Today, Roon have announced Roon Server for compatible QNAP and Synology NAS devices, which means you can enjoy the Roon experience without a PC. Chris Rieke, a member of the Roon users community, had started working on the Synology version of Roon Server on his own, so Roon contacted him and arranged to work together on these projects. Chris will be involved in the maintenance and support for both of these NAS packages in the future.

NAS devices come in many shapes and sizes. Just as it’s important to pay attention to hardware specs when choosing a PC, you’ll want to be sure the NAS you choose has the performance necessary to run Roon Server now and in the future, as they add even more features. Any NAS with a 64-bit Intel CPU is compatible, but to get the best experience, Roon strongly recommend a top-of-the-line (Core i3 or i5) NAS with expanded RAM (4GB or more).

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